IN 1908
By J. S. DILLER
ADVANCE CHAPTER FROM MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STAT ES CALENDAR YEAR 1908
rl WASHINGTON Q OV ER N 31 E N T P R P N T 4. N G 0F F 1G E 1909 , c DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR-Us S,(3EOLOGICAL SURVEY GEORGE OTIS SIIITH. DIRECTOR
THE PRODUCTION OF TALC AND SOAPSTONE
IN 1908
By J. S. DILLER I,
ADVANCE CHAPTER FROM MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES CALENDAR YEAR 1908
WASHINGTON GOVERNMEST PRINTING OFFICE 1909 CONTENTS.
Page. Introduction ...... 3 Varieties and characteristics ...... 3 ~Tses...... 4 Production in the United States...... 4 Iniports...... 6 Deposits by States...... 7 Xortli Carolina...... 7 Virginia...... 8 NewYork ...... 10 Vermont ...... 11 Other States ...... 12 2 'L'ALC ASD SOAPS'FONE.
By J. S. DILLER.
INTRODUCTIOE. The salient feature of the talc and soapstone industry for 1908 is the considerable decrease in the tote1 output from the previous year, due to the general decline in trade conditions. The total output for 1908 was 117,324 short tons, a decrease of nearly 17 per cent from that of 1907. The production of talc and soapstone was limited exclusively to the belt of ancient crj-stalline rocks which form the axis of the Appalachian Mountain system from Canada to Alabama. Talc or soapstone quarries were operated in ten States on the Atlantic slope, viz, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Sew Pork, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Alaryland, Vir *inia,North Carolina, and Georgia. In Sew York, the State 11-1ich produced by far the larger part of the talc obtained in this countrj-, and also at Hemitts, in Korfh Carolina, the masses of talc have the forin of layers or beds, con formably interstratified with marble, schists, and gneisses, after the manner of sedimentary rocks. At some of the other localities. however, the deposits of talc and soapstone are less regular. Their motle of occurrence as well as their association and mineralogical composition strong1;- suggest that they hare been derived from igneous rocks, such as pyrosenite.
VARIETIES AS7D CHARACTERISTICS. In chemical corn hsition, tnlc is a hj-drous silicate of magnesia. Pure talc is generar 1:. foliated like mica, but may be fibrous. The lamine, though flexible, are not elastic. Both foliated ancl fibrous forms of talc are abundant in iliferent parts of the mines in Xew York. The most distinctive phg.sical features of talc are its softness, being easily impressed bj- the finger nail, ancl its greasy, soapy feel. It is practically infusible, not decomposed b-ordinary acids, and a good nonconductor of heat and electricit::. When highlj- heated, it loses a small amount of wvater, hardens, ancl becomes susceptible to polish. It varies in color from apple-green to white. Its softness, flexibility, and smoothness, in connection with its resistance to high tempera tures and acids, are the qualities which render it most useful. The massive forin, u~ual11,-gray, crystalline, and more or less impure, occurs in large bodies, and is commonly known as soapstone. 5 4 XISERAL RESOURCES. USES. The practice in niining talc and soapstone and preparing it for use is for the most part either to saw it into slabs, as at the quarries in Virginia, or to grind it into powder, as at the mines in Ken- Tork. Being soft and sectile, it is easily sawed or carved into any shape, and is extensively used for washtubs, sanitary appliances, labora tory tanks and tables, electrical switchboards,hearthstones, mantels, fire brick, kiln linings, furnaces, cupolas, converters, gas burners, foot warmers, slate pencils, and “crayons” for marking iron, glass, .and fabrics. The powder of foliated talc is used instead of mica for imparting duster to mill paper. The powdered form of fibrous talc is extensively used in the manufacture of paper. On account of the strength and durabilitj- the minutely fibrous talc imparts to the paper, it is repla cing china clay,which has been extensivelyused in the past andwhich renders the paper brittle. Talc has a wide use to-day as a pigment in high-grade paints. On account of its great natural stability, it should be well adapted to this purpose, but,as shown by the scientific section of the Paint Manufacturers’ Association of the United States, its proportion to the other pigments with which it is used should be moderate. If used in excess, it cheapens and adulterates the paint. As a heat insulator, it is used for boiler and pipe coverings. It finds exfensive use as a lubricant to lessen friction, also for polishing glass, dressing skins and leather, and making various toilet powders, .as we19 as for dynamite aiid for sizing for cotton cloth. It is said to have been used in adulterating sugar, baking powder, and flour. In response to an inquiry as to the use of talc for adulter ating the articles of food mentioned, Dr. H. JT. Viley, chief of the
Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Bgriculture,replied :a bL There is no doubt of the fact that it has been used for all these purposes to some extent. I have never found, holvever, any mineral sub- stance of that kind in sugar. It has been extensively advertised for flour, but we have never found a sample of flour containing any of it. In so far as baking powders are concerned, I do not think we have ever found any. Mj- impression is that the use of any kind of talc for tlie purpose mentioned is extremely limited, but there is no doubt that it has been used occasionally.”
PRODUCTION. The total production of all forms of talc in 1908 was 117.354 short $om, valued at $1,401,222, a decrease in quantity of over 16 per cent from tlie production of 1907, but a decrease in value of less than 9 per cent. The smaller decrease in value is due chiefly to the gen eral advance in prices. The financial depression of 1903was marked by a decline in output of talc of 11 per cent from the production of 1902. This was followed by four years of rapid rise in produc tion and then by a marked decline of 16 per cent in 1908. The diminished production applies to all the States except Sew York aiid Massachusetts. In Xew- York the output increased 4 per cent and in Massachusetts the output, though not very large, was
a Officialletter, dated April 20, 1909. TALC AXD SOAPSTOSE. 5 more than double that of 1907-a marked increase resulting from the erection of a new mill at Zoar, in Franklin County. The following table shows the progrew of the talc industry in recent years : ProduLtion of tnlc and soapstone in the Olzted .Stiites, 1880-1908, in short tons. -_____. --__ Year Onantity. 1 Value. Tear. Quantity. \-slue __ I I - - ___ 1850-1900...... 9(;9,928 $11,224 G62 1905...... 'JO. 634 S1 OX2 062 1901...... 97.843 ?08:498 1906...... 150.t1-14 1:43I:556 1902...... i 97.954 , 1,14O..iOi 1QOi...... I 130,810 1,63I,O12 1903...... ' hti.901 Y10,ObO 1908...... lli,331 1,401,222' 1904...... 01,189 940.i31 1 I
The t ::lc and s~,apstoneciuarrie,i and prepared for market are most convenientl: classified, as shown in the followinq table. into four classes or groups, viz, rough or crude, salved into slabs, manufac tured articles, and ground. The table sIio\v5 the quantit, produced in each class an nu all^^, the total value. and the average price per ton from 1905 to 1908.
Prodzrctiori qf tnlc nnd sonpstonc zn fhe C-nztpd Qt/ifey 01ro,d171q to i ii~uries.?qoi-l9(i8, it? short tom
13%. ;!'Ol.. - Condition in ivhich ninrkctcd. i Average Quantity. \-illii~. Qnantity. \-alne. price per ton.
__~~~. ~ .~ __ .- _.___.. ~ ~- Rough...... 3 Sawed into slabs...... Y Manufactured articlesa...... 14 0 Ground b...... i5 0 ~ ____
Total c...... 96.134 ~ 1.082,0ii?
- .. -~ ~ Rowh...... 25 53s Saved into slabs...... hlannfacwred articlesa...... Ill I(i.33 24 27.10 Ground b......
Total c...... 139,810 1,531,047 ~ ib.85 lli,354 1,401,222 i 11.84
~ ~~ a Includes bath and laundry tabs; firebrick for stoves, heaters. etc.; hearthstones. mantels, sinks, grid dles, slate pencils, gas tips, burner blanks. crayons, and niimerous other articles for everyday use. b For foundry facings. paper making, lubricators for dressing skins and leather, etc. c Exclusive of the quantity used for pigment. which is included among mineral paints. Only 2.5 per cent of the product was sold crude in 1908, 3 er cent was sold sawed into slabs, 14 per cent was sold as man^ffactured articles; and 80.5 per cent was sold ground. TT'hen, however, we consider the values represented the percentages are very different. The value of the crude was one-half of 1 per cent of the total value, that of the sawed into slabs 5 per cent, that of the manufactured articles 32 per cent, and that of the ground 62.5 per cent. The production of New Pork alone exceeded in quantity that of all: the other States combined. In quantit?- and 1-alue Virginia ranks next to Sew York. The product in Sex-Y-orli is all talc an(l it is all 6 AIISERBL RESOURCES. ground; in Virginia the product is soapstone,and it is sawed ant1 nian- ufnctured into various articles. In Sorth Carolina and Vermont there is greater variety in the production. By far the larger part of the product in both States is ground, yet here also a considerable part of the product is sold crude, sail-ed into slabs, and as mniiufac t wed articles.
oapstonc. 1906-1~~~9by Stntes. in short tons __~ ___~___ ~- __ _ _~ _- __ -~ ~- 1901 I 1907 1908
State ______p- ~___~____ QLlxititi Value Qaantitx T alne Qnantit! 1 alne _- ~ __ - _ _
29 Si1;4i3 (a) (0) 5.064 32. 2.50 li.103 46, b71 '1.648 $29,118 b1, boo ti26 000 iO,739 097, 390 4.0b.5 14.347 3.564 51,443 0 82,300 10,ijZ 99,743 8 831.880 19.blii 458,252 Other States b ...... 3.W9 39.590 8.032 65,276
._-~___-p~~~~ ______Total...... 1%. ti44 l.i31.;3( 139,810 1.j31.04i lli.354 1,401,222
1880-1900 ...... i, 1901...... 1902...... I i 1903...... t 1904...... 1905...... I 1m...... ' 19Oi ...... ' 1'1. im...... 70.
__-_~_ -pp---____-___---- 1otal 1 li1 171 10 287 041 i,b7 0% 10 213 284 1 81h 25; L0,;OO 326 I _-- ~~ _ _ _ ~ _ _ __ ~ IMPORTS. The total imporlj of tdc ior corisuniption in 1908 were 7,429 short tons, a decrease of ox-er 26 per cent from the imports of 1907. On the other liantl. the anx-aqe price per ton of the iniports in 1908 increased 4 per cent over the average price of 1907. Only the better grades of talc pro(luceti are imported. which accounts for the higher average price for foreign as compared 7% ith domestic talc.
TuZc imporiw iiito the Tuited ctes, iWi-1908,tii short 1om
~~ ~ ~ - ~~~~ ~ - ~~ - - _~ lxeiace ixera,'e Pear Quanti:t \ J!i'e piice I e3~ QnantitS \ aliie. price per ton per ton -~ _~_ _~___ I _ __ _ 190'2...... 2. h.i9 S33.3t;U $12.36 19b...... 5,643 $tii,Yls $12.02 1903...... 1.791 19.1i17 10.99 1901...... l!.OtiO 120,391 12.56 1904...... S.2t;Y 31i.3;O il.13 19Oh...... ,,4'29 97.09U 13 Oi 1905...... 4,000 4>,?2.5 12.03 TALC AND SOAPSTOSE. 7
TALC DEPOSITS, BY STATES. NORTH CAROLINA. Sortli Caroliiin is the fifth State in the order of prdwtio11, and has i;ve active iiiii,es, of which that of the Xortli Carolina Talc antl Mining C‘oinpanj-? near IIewitts, in Swain County. is the largest producvr. A detailed description of the occurrence of talc and soapstone in the vicinity of EIewitts is give11 by Keith in the Santahala folio anti iii the Contributions to Economic Geology for 1902.a Tlte talc occurs as series of lenticular inasses antl sheets in the blue and white marbles of Cambrian age along the ,l;nntaliala Valley and Sottelj- River. Talc associated xith limestone is most likel- derived from secliinentary rock. It is found also in the Great Sinolq-conglomerate of Cambrian age, and in the Archean rocks. n-liere its association ivith ixritlotites is such as to show that it is tleri\-ed fqo111 igneous roclrs. ‘The Cambrian marbles have a length of outcrop of almnt 40 ides in Sorth Carolina and are continued in Georgia for ti much greater dibtancc. Talc is linown to occur in more than twenty-five places dong the marble belt of Sort21 Carolina, but is lew co1n111oli in Geor gia. The lenticular bodies inclosed in the inarhle l-arj- in size from mere -cqlcs to innqqes 50 feet thick and 2000 feet long. Owng to its soft nature, the talc does iiot witlistant1 weathering, buj :cadi!.- crumbles do\\ 11. It does iiot outcrop. therefore, a!ld its position i, indicated 111erel~-11- fragments of n eatheretl iiiateiial on the Iiirface. Thiis, it is impossible to determine the full extent of the talc hlics, except where they are exposed bj- mining. For the caiiie reawn, it is probable that many bodies of talc have thus far escaped o1)ser~ation. Some of the bodies ai-eso estenaiw that they resemhlt. sheets of sedimentary matter. This is especially the case n-hew tlir talc sheet.; grade into the adjoining sancl.tone betis. T~J; arc’ termccl “veins ” 1))- the miners, but thej- have none of the charac teristics of true veins. The talc raiies in color from dull ivhite antl opaque, where weath cred, t,i tliill bluish green or pale peen and translucent, where the iolicl rock is freshest. Inasmuch as the inetllotis of niaiiufwture of the talc depend upon its softness, an)- impurities which inayaffec’t this qualitj- are a tletrinient. Thus it happens that the occurrence of numerous acicular or prismatic cr-stals of aiiiphibolp or pyroxene greetlj- tleprcciate the value of mine of the large deposltb of talc. In Xortl: Caidina talc is mined partly in open cuts and paitl?- in shafts and tunnels. Bj- far the greater portion of it is gi-ound to powder, but ;30iiic’(Jf it ic; sawed into blahs and manufactured into sinall arti clea, such as pencils, crapnq, and gas tips, ai well as elcctrical and thrrnial insulators of various forms. The t:.!c clc;:o-its associated with the ?Ilurph~-inarble are readily accea-ihlr to the Southern Railway, but other deposits of talc which occur in the Grpet Smokj- conglomerate, as TI ell as the both.; of soap- stone a~cociatedwith dunite in the Arcliean rockb, tliough ltirge, are $0 remote from transportation that the>- are generallj-. iinci~~eloped, It ii interciting to note. hom-eT-er. that since the esteniion of tlie rail- 1 oat1 down t lie Little Tennessee from Buslmell one of the inasses of
-~ ~~ -~ - - ~____ Keith \rthni, lVdntdhilil folio (Yo 143), Ceol ltlas U 6 , r- ca Geol Siine\ lW7 Geol Snr\e\ To 21.3 19113 p 443 1\IINERAL RESOURCES.
fine foliated talc in tlic conglomeintc is heing n nrliecl 2 niiles south- west of Wapide :uid liauletl to Ilexitts to bc gio~ind. Pyroyh!j7litt .-Fy ophj-llite,though unlike talc, in being a !i)-d?ous silicate of alumina instead of a hydious silicate of magnesia, I:$ s,a closely related to talc in nianj- of its physical properties that It is * niiiied and used for the same 1)uiposes,altliougli it does not command so high a l’rice as the bwt grades of talc. Moistened nith cobalt solution and ipiited. talc beconies pale red, antl pj-rophSllite under tlie same coiitlitions beconies tleep blue. Thus the two niinerals may be readily distinguished. In the region Xv1ier.e it is iiiinecl, pyropli~lliteis sonietimes errone ously called agalmatolite. because of its general resemblance to the mineral so coninionl>-used in China for sniall iinn,‘ ues. The only mines of 1))-ropliyllite in the United States are in Jloore and Chathain counties, S.C., antl they are widel)- separated from the talc and soapstone mines of the same State. The pyropliyllite rock forms a narrom- belt about S niiles in length, northeast and southwest, which is ci~ossedbj- Deep River near the middle, in the vicinity of Glendon, where the uarries are located. This belt is 500 feet in width and of considerableBut unknown depth. It is boimded by siliceous and iron breccias, which separate it from slates. Sot ovcr 100 feet of the belt is workable, and of this only 26 per cent is commercial pyrophyllite. The principal impurity is quartz, arranged in 1-eins and bands, with some chlorite and niagne tite. Tlw presence of iniprities, chieflv quartz, in the p>-rophyll~te I \voultl make tlic ground product gyitty, and it therefore causes con- I siderahle waste of the material mined. Pratt propowd to use thls waste for fire bricku On the basis of its cheniical composition, I’J-rophvllite has been regarded as iiiore nearlj- allied to clay than to talc. I;’roni agalmato lite it t1ifYei.s in containing only a trace of potash. The Durham and Charlotte Railroad at Glendon affords convenient transportation for the pj-rophpllite. Two quarries reported produc tion in 1908. There were also several other companies with mills erected acti\*clv engaged in prospecting and derelopnient. VIRGINIA. T’irgiiiin ii I)?-’ far the most important State in the production of soapstone. O~crno per cent of the nearly 20,000 tons it produced wa? sawed into slabs for manufacturing laundrv and laboratory appliances, wliile less than 10 per cent \\as ground into powder and used for foundi-\- and other piiqjoses where color and a high degree of purity is not ebsentid. Xlniost the whole of the soaptone in T’irginia comes from a long, narrow belt running northeast from Sekon Count\- into Albemarle County. It begins about 20 ndcs northeast of Lj-nclibur~and lies nearly midway bet\veen tlie iilain line of the Southcrn Railway and the James River. tiirision of the Cliesapenke and Ohio Railway. AS these railroads are only about A miles apart, the facilities for trans portation are fa\-orahle. The geolog->-of the soapstone belt has heen briefly described by T. 11. J7’atson.b state geologist. but until the belt has been definitely
~ ~ ~~ - ~ ~-~ __ - n Prnlt J 11 , Sorth Caioli11,1 Ceol nm Economic rapel KO 3, p 99 b Lfineral Itesoiuceb of Virginia pn 5hed 51 the \ i~~inin-Jdiiiezlol\nExpocition C oxilnlisa1on, 1907 p 293 TALC AND SOAPSTONE. mapped, the form, size, and relations of the soapstone to the adjacent rocks can not be clearly understood. Tlie soa stone occurs in sheets, layers, or dikelike inasses 100 or more feet in t iickriess and somewhat irregularly distributed throughout a belt nearlyY 30 miles in length and less than a inile in width. The general distribution of the soap- stone strongly suggests conformable stratification with the uartz ites and rnicaceous schists with which it.is locally associated,fut its more common and intiinate association is with a greenish rock hav ing decidedly the aspect of an eruptive and suggesting an igneous origin for the rock from which tlie soapstoneis derired. In Sew York and North Carolina, where the layers of talc are clearly derived from a sedinientary rock, it is interbedded with limestone; but in Virginia there is no limestone near the soapstone. The soapstone quarried varies in color from light bluish-gray to dark greenish-gray, and in hardness from that which is easily scratched by the finger nail to that u on which the finger nail makes no inipres sion. The light-colored soPt soapstone is tlie best grade and contains the iiiost talc. Tlie softness of the stone is in a large measure pro portional to the talc it contains. The soapstone richest in talc is not only the easiest and most satisfactor- to worli, hut is the best for most of the uses to which soapstone is ap1)lied. This best grade of soapstone, examined in thin section under a microscope, is found to be composed chiefly of scales of talc with a small prolortion of chlorite and magnetite and traces of either or of both amphibole and pjTroxene. The dxrli-greenish soapstone, which occurs with the light colored more or less abundantly in all the quarries, owes its green color to the abundance of chlorite and its greater hardness in art to chlorite, but more particularlj- to the greater ro ortion of the silicates- hornblende and 11-roxerie-both of N-%*ic { are much harder than , talc. I-Iornblende and pp-oxene are the minerals from which, by alteration, the talc is derived. The dark-green hard grade of soa - stone, if it n-cre more altered so that the pyroxene and aniphibo11'e were changed to talc, nould become the better grade of soapstone. In Slay, 1909, n-lien the writer visited the Albemarle-Nelson County soapstone belt, there were six plants in operation. Beginning at the northeast, they were as follows : The T-irginia Soapstone Company, which from its large quarries at Schuj-ler supplied its two large mills, one at Srhuyler and the other at Blberene; the Old Dominion, the Climax, the Phaenix, and the Piedmont, all in o 3eration, with quar ries and mills running; and the Eureka, i\~hichlately succeeded the Plumbers and at \Ihich the quarr?- onlj- and not the mill was in operation. All the quarries are well equipped with channeling machines and mills for sawing the slabs or shaping and dressing the manufactured articles. The excellent quality of this soapstone adapts it to a \vide range of uses. Laundry tubs are the chief manufactured product, but it is used extensively for sinks and other sanitary dei-ices, as well as for electrical appliances and cooking utensils. ' There are two small soapstone quarries in Fairfax County--one near Clifton and the other near Tiehle. At Clifton the soapstone is ground, hut at Wiehle, where it is much fractured,.decomposed, and stained by oxide of iron, it is sold crude just as it 1s taken from the quarry. 10 JIISERAL RESOURCES:.
NEW YORK Sew Yorlr cad\-outranks all other States in the production of talc. 911 of the output ~~incsfrom a small district about a dozen miles southcast of Gounmmr, in St. IAVrence County, which has been worked for nian? >-cars. The geologj- of the district and thc genesis of the talc has been ~~111dewrihed by C. W.Smith, jr.a Gnei-ses are tlie most abundant rocks of that region, but crystalline limectones form large irregular heite trending northeast and southwest in the gneiss parallel to its handed striicture. ?iluch of tlie limcctone is P snitable for building and nionumcntal purposes, hut the gi eater por tion of it is impure and contains man:- more 0:' leis bchistose layers innhich the silicates,tremolite,and rnstatite are the chief conitituents. I One of the largest and by far tlie most iniportant of the 1 schist yet discoy-crcd is in a limestone belt nliicli stretch Fonler northeastward to a point near EdTi arch. a distance of 7 mile?, and contains the ~-a!iialJetnlc deposits of that district. The schist is confo~niablen it11 tlre limestone, into 1iic.h it gradually paseF, both above and helow. Their relations are such a6 to indicate that both belong to tlw
nThe genesis of the talc deposits of St. Lanience County, N. Y.: School of Mines Quart., vol. 17, Xo. 4, pp. 333-3-11. TALC AND SOAPSTONE. 11 Tlie excellence of the fibrous talc for filling book and writing papers has given it a 11-ide market, and iniich of it is exported to Eiirope, where it is replacing clay in the paper industry. VERMONT. Vermont was tlie third among the States in the production of ta!c and soapstone, having produced 10,755 short tons-about half as much as Virginia and one-seventh as much as Xew York. Its pro ? cluction in 1908 decreased in quantity 33 per cent from that of 19OT: nevertheless the reported value of the output, in diich much of the product was manufactured, increased about 29 per cent ol'er that 4 of 1907. It is the on1)- State in which an increase in the value is coupled with a decrease in the quantity of the output. This is due to the fact that in 1908 a larger proportion of the production was solti manufactured tlicri in the prerious :-ear. There were eiqht operating mines in this State; six of these, pro ducing 90 per cent of the state's output, sold their entire product ground; only two quarried and manufactured articles of soapstone. According to G. H. Perkins, state geologist of Vermont," talc occurs in beds of noticeable size in or nenr the towns of Granville, Moretown, Rochester, Stoclibridge, Bridgewater, Rosbury, Dux- bury, Lowell, and Johnson. In the northern part of the State, near the village of Johnson, there is a small mine in talc schist so folded RS to render mining dif ficult. There is some good talc, but the grade of most of it is lowerecl b? the presence of small flakes of ppite. At East Granville the talc mined is a t7pical talc schist, find it stands on edge between other schists, of which mica schist is tlie most common. Tlie talc is in the form of R bed and not of a vein. Tt is not entirelp continuous, but is made up of a series of talc lenses jn the same plane. The lenses range in thickness from a few inches to 30 feet and in length up to 200 feet. The mine is worked by several clrifts running north on the bed into the steep hilisitle about 300 feet above the mill bj- the railroad station. The ore is carried to the id1 b5- a grarity traniwaj-. The mine exceeds the czpacitJ-of the mill, and part of the ore is shipped and ground b:.- the pnper company that uses it. The location of the mine with reference to topography, tlrainage, and transportation is cleciclecllj~ntlvnntngeous. About 12 miles farther south the same hrtl epparently is inincil near Rochester and also at Stockhridge, but under somewhat less fnvorable conditions. Three miles west of Chester talc is mind ar Cariton's and is sold in Chester at the mill of the LimericanSoapstone Finishing Company, t which early in 1909 leased the Carlton quarrp. Sear Kindham is a mine ant1 mill recently closn~lby litication. Professor Perkins remarks th:?t there are ex tensire beds of soap-
D stone in the towns of (2x1-endish, Grafton, Chester, T - - -.___ ~ .- a Eng. and Min. Jour., October 7,19138, p. 753. - -I II -*.-J 12 XISERAL RESOCRCES. the other at Athens, 10 miles away. The soapstone. well exposed in the open pits, is seen to form lenses within gneiss. The lenses are from 4 to 20 feet thick and 20 to 30 feet wide, and overlap. The stone is soft and easily sawed, turned, planed, or grooved. It is quarried b;: usiiig channeling machines, but unfortunately the ma terial varies. lluch of it is cracked, but the smaller part is excellent. The soapstone mill destroyed by ice some years ago at Perkins rille is being rebuilt, and already a part is in operation nianufactur ing tubs, sinks, furnaces linings, and numerous other objects. OTHER STATES. Georgia.-The Murphy marble of Xorth Carolina extends far into Georgia, but the important deposits of talc associated with it in Kiorth Carolina have not been found to any great extent in Georgia. There are, however, several small but active mines in Murray County. Allm$and.-The Deland Mining and Milling Company at Bald Friar quarry, near Have tle Grace, was the only one operated during 190s in lfaryland, and it reports the same production as in IgOi, although the total production of the State decreased about 29 per cent. The product was chiefly ground and sold" to the manufac turers of acid-proof and fireproof paints. Pennsyl?*ania.-In PennsJ-lvania there were tn-o mines operating, one in Montgomery Count)-, the Atlas Mineral and lllachine Company, and the other in Northanipton County, the J. 0. Wagener & Co. mine. both in the eastern part of the State. The first locality is briefly referred to in the Philadelphia foliob as an old soapstone quarry (rose quarry) that has been recently reopened on the west bank of the Schuylkill and that furnishes material of good quality �or stove and furnace linings, as a filler in the manufacture of paint and paper, and as a lubricant. -Yew Jersey.-In Sew Jersej-, 2 miles north of Phillipsburg, is the mine of the Lizzie Clav and Pulp Company. In 1908 it was the only I producing mine in the State. The production of Pennsylvania and New Jersey for 1908 decreased 37 per cent from that of 1907. Rkode Idand.-The Rhode Island Soapstone Cornpan:- at hlan I ville, in Providence County, was the only company operating in that State during 1908. -~lussachzLsetts.-There were two producing mines in Massachusetts, the Berkshire Talc and JIanufacturing Company in Dalton, in Berk shire County, and the Massachusetts Talc Company near Rowe, 3 miles north of Zoar, in Franklin County, where a new mill was erected in 1907, which raised Massachusetts to the distinction of being the only State, except Kew York, whose production in 1908 was greater than in 1907. Of all the material reported froni the mines in Georgia, RIaryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, a small production of crude was reported by only two. TTith this ex t ception, all the product was ground. The great center of the sawed soapstone indwtrJ-is in Virginia. South of Virginia, as well as north, approximately all of the talc is ground until Vermont is reached, where again a considerablepart of the material is sawed. ., n hlaryland Mineral Industries, 189G1907,Maryland Geol. Survey special publication, vol 8, pt. 2, p.160 Z, Philadelphia folio (Xo. 162). Geol. -4tlas LT. S., U. S. Geol. Surrey, 1908. 0